There are so many working parts in a self contained or Autism Unit. Read MORE on what you can do to survive and thrive in a self contained classroom!
Learn which strategies to use with students who are engaging in escape or task avoidance behaviors in special education classes.
This resource includes an editable self contained elementary teacher pacing guide for the any school year. This editable pacing guide, curriculum map, and long term guide has everything you need to create your own pacing guide by typing over mine, or using an included blank one while using my 5th grade one as inspiration. This resource is 100% editable in PowerPoint. You will need a computer with PowerPoint to use this resource. In this resource you will have access to: PLEASE DOWNLOAD THE PREVIEW TO SEE EVERYTHING IN THIS FILE This pacing guide was made when I taught at a no curriculum school, so almost all resources I use (which are linked in the pacing guide) are found right her on TeacherPayTeachers. Most sellers I purchases from have resources for grades 3-6 so this pacing guide is designed as a tool for most self-contained third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade teachers.
Are you looking for new ways to increase your students' independence? Read this post to learn more about types of structured work systems!
The first two weeks in a special ed classroom are more than academics. Ideas on what to teach, what to practice, and what you should be doing.
Circle time is my baby. When I started my current job in 2002 and had one class of highly-impacted and self-contained students, I knew I wanted to lead the class in some way. Circle became my "thing". I now serve three self-contained classes and do circle in each of them. Each classroom's circle looks somewhat
Listen to this Special Ed Podcast with 15 great ideas for Functional Centers for students with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism in High School. Read more and subscribe today!
Being a new special education teacher can be overwhelming and stressful. Check out The FIRST thing to do as a new special ed teacher.
ind out all the details of how to set up this system, who it works best for, what the goal is, and why you need one!
Visual boundaries are a vital part of classroom setup. Let me show you how I utilize these visual boundaries in classroom!
Are you setting up your self-contained classroom and are wondering what to use as visual boundaries? Read more to learn about...
In you special needs class, do you have any behavior issues? Any kids that are over-responsive or just the opposite, under-responsive? YOU.NEED.HEAVY.WORK. I cannot stress enough how much of a DRASTIC change we saw in some of our special thinkers when we began implementing this work system into their daily routine. Here's some info on
Hitting and Pinching in Autism Units and Self Contained- Tips and tricks to teach students to stop hitting and pinching. The Nook podcast from Noodlenook.net
One of my absolutely favorite things about being a special education teacher was that I had the freedom to design fun and exciting lessons for my students specific to their interests. I never had a curriculum to follow. No one ever told me what books to read to them or what activities I had to
Are you looking for new ways to increase your students' independence? Read this post to learn more about types of structured work systems!
In you special needs class, do you have any behavior issues? Any kids that are over-responsive or just the opposite, under-responsive? YOU.NEED.HEAVY.WORK. I cannot stress enough how much of a DRASTIC change we saw in some of our special thinkers when we began implementing this work system into their daily routine. Here's some info on
As the ONLY special education teacher in my building, I ALWAYS wanted to get a peek inside other classrooms. Get a peek inside 10 classroom tours!
Welcome back to my blog! In this post I am going to share how I modify the Creative Curriculum to fit the needs of my students. I want to preface this post by saying that my administration is extremely flexible with their expectations of the preschool teachers using the curriculum to its fullest. The curriculum […]
I think all special education teachers struggle with meeting the sensory needs of some of our students. I am not always lucky enough to have a separate sensory room at my school. However, you can easily and cheaply create a sensory wall for your students! Below is a list of items you can add to […]
Our character trait for February and March is self-control/self-discipline . During our morning announcements we have been reading famous q...
Learn every step of classroom setup, must have resources, and materials needed to setup your self-contained classroom. Peek inside my classroom!
Special education classrooms need decor and organization tweaks to fit the program needs. Read the tips on how to make the best decor choices for your sped classroom.
Self-Contained Special Education Music Classes: tips and resources. Organized Chaos.
Here are some points to consider when setting up a classroom for pupils with autism: such as low arousal, space and access to communication.
There is something about the structure and routine of Michaela's Especially Education task boxes students are drawn to. They take immense pride in showing off their finished work, keeping all the materials together, and putting the tasks away into their rightful places.
A behavior notebook is a whole-class management technique for recording classroom misbehavior that integrates student reflection & ownership. It can quickly be implemented with any existing rules and discipline plan, and is used as an alternative to other methods such as a clip chart, card system, or writing names on the board. Each student …
I LOVE making charts! Step into my classroom and you’ll probably say, “Wow, someone has too much time!” but to be honest, I don’t! I just love them so much and love the w…
This is my favorite center in my classroom! Learn how to set up and implement the independent 3 drawer work system in your own classroom.
Teaching special education students to self- assess is HARD. Visual self- assessments make it easier. Self- assessment is a skill that everyone needs. And it actually isn’t that hard to fit it in naturally throughout the school day. Many of us are required to provide self assessments for student work in state testing portfolios (hello […]
Use the Grade Taken On stamp to collect data on what a student was graded on for a specific lesson or activity. The Mrs. D's Rubber Stamp Collection not only helps teachers and service providers collect data and progress monitor IEP goals and student work, but it helps to foster and create a strong teacher-parent relationship where everyone is on the same page. No more surprises at IEP meetings or parent conferences! About the Stamp: Size: 1.3" x 1.3" Colors (choose 1): red, blue, black, green, purple Self-inking with refillable ink pads Our Story: When I taught in a self-contained classroom setting, I quickly realized the disconnect between myself and the families I serviced. I could send home a work sample from that day, knowing how the child completed the work in inclusion with a peer mentor, but when that work was sent home - the parent had no of this knowledge. I needed a quick, simple way to bridge that school-home communication gap, and that's when I created the Communication Stickers (which you can read more about here). Fast forward a few years, I had the opportunity to turn the best selling stickers into self-inking rubber stamps... and the rest is history! Shipping Details: This is a physical product that will be shipped to you. Please allow 1-3 business days for order processing. Once your order is processed, it will be shipped using the method of delivery you selected during checkout. Shipping is determined at checkout based on your location. To see our shipping policy, go here. To see our refund policy go here.
Three must-have visuals for the special education classroom! Set your students up for success by teaching them the major life skill!
Practice vocational skills with these classroom jobs and on campus job ideas for students of various skill levels!
I am always looking for ways to streamline data collection. In the past, I was only tracking the behavior of students if it was related to an IEP goal, or if we were beginning to notice a spike in behavior. And while this worked, it isn't always enough. This year I found a way to track all of my students' behavior in less than one minute a day... AND I don't even need to pick up a pen! To make this happen, I use two things: Google Forms (check below for the FREEBIE!) and an Amazon Fire tablet. While you don't need the tablet to use Google Forms, it does make it more convenient for staff to document behavior without having to access the computer. Google Forms is free and easy to use. It is basically a survey that gathers and analyzes any type of information. I will be honest, I have always been a bit resistant to using a tablet for data collection for a couple of reasons. 1. I give all of my tech to my students. 2. TECH IS EXPENSIVE! (or so I thought...) The Amazon Fire tablet is actually pretty inexpensive. You can typically find them for less than $50, which is a killer deal. Now that I have the tablet I find that I use it for far more than just data collection, but that's a topic for another post! Now that you know what I use, here is how you can make it for yourself! First, download a copy of the Google Forms Digital Classroom Behavior Log. Open the file and click on the link. You will be prompted to save a copy of the Google Forms template. Next, type all of your students' names in the left column. You can also change titles for each behavior rating to meet the needs of your classroom. And... that's it! Your form is all set up! Pretty easy, right!?! Now it is time to give it a test run and view your responses. Don't worry, you can delete your responses later. Click on the preview icon in the upper right corner. This will bring you to the actual form that you will fill out to track behavior. Select one of the behavior options for each student and add a note at the bottom to detail any incidents that happened during the day. Then hit the submit button to record your information. Click "submit another response" to head back to the form. Are you ready to take a look at your responses? Click on the orange pencil in the upper right corner to get into editing mode. Next, click on the responses tab. This will give you a your data in a bar graph. Hover over each bar to get more detailed information. You can also download the responses in a Google Sheets file. This is a great option if you need to find information from a specific date or time period. Now that you have had a chance to play around with the form, you may want to delete the information that you submitted so that you can start fresh with your students. Just click on the 3 dots in the upper right corner and select "delete all responses." This Google Form is easy to access from anywhere with an internet connection. All you need to do is access the URL. This can be done by creating a bookmark, or saving the link to your desktop. Would you like to see a video of these steps in action? Click on the video below and I will walk you through of the entire process. Are you ready to give it a try? I would love to hear how it goes for you! (This post contains Amazon affiliate links. I only link to products that I personally use and find beneficial. Please click HERE for more information.)
My latest miniature is a tornado! I started it whilst I was still at home over the summer and finally got round to finishing it. It started...
